On the edge.
The "Printmakers Pushing the Boundaries" group is still in action, still walking and planning for the future. Last week we revisited Flint Castle and then moved on to Basingwerk Abbey, just down the road. It's very difficult to get a sense of the scale of the original buildings now that so little remains. The old Ministry of Works got busy with the concrete to mark out the old foundations, but although some of the exterior walls still stand to a good height most of the "offices" are reduced to marks in the grass. The grounds were full of children enjoying themselves at the end of the school holidays - great to see, but at odds with the solemnity and sanctity which must have pervaded the abbey in the monks' time.
The remaining stones have weathered into fantastic shapes - one of our members suggests that these were the interior walls, and therefore not made of the hardest stone.
Then on to Greenfield Dock - a complete surprise to me. I've lived in this area for more than thirty years, and I had no idea the place existed. The creeks and inlets along the Dee Estuary can be glimpsed from the train, but like all edgelands, they seem mysterious and just beyond reach. When you come to look properly of course, the Dock is easy to find (it's on Dock Road, for a start). Information boards, car park, a smart railing to stop you falling in the water, an accessible track - all the modern requirements for a "heritage experience". But if you take a breath and listen, the water is lapping on the stones and the tide moves as it always has done.
